Porto, the largest city of Northern Portugal, has been elected Best European Destination in 2012, 2014 and 2017. The Historic Centre of Porto, classified as World Heritage by UNESCO, is one of the most attractive entertainment venues for visitors, providing a rich variety of monuments and ordinary dwellings, from different periods stretching back as far as the 14th century. The city of Porto and its river, Douro, cannot be dissociated. The Douro valley, with its lovely terraces of vineyards clinging to the hillsides, is the kingdom of the famous Port Wine and offers visitors spectacular views. Porto is the centre of a culturally and naturally rich region that gathers together history, arts and nature (sea and mountains); it is a perfect starting point for tourist excursions (of various durations and flavours).

The venue of the conference will be the Faculty of Engineering of University of Porto, located in the Asprela Campus. Founded in 1911, the University of Porto (U.Porto) is a reference institution for Higher Education and Scientific Research in Portugal and one of the top 150 European Universities according to the most relevant international ranking systems. Over 30.000 students are studying at U.Porto.